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Seeing Double (Standards)

So this weekend Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice hit theaters and proved to be a box office hit. For those who want my thoughts on the film, you can read about them here and here.

As was the case with Man of Steel, it seems very fashionable to snark on BvS and the DC Cinematic Universe in general. My theory is that the Marvel films are shiny new toys by comparison to the DC franchises.

This isn’t to say that DC and parent company Warner Brothers are above critique. They aren’t. Neither is Marvel and parent company Disney. I both enjoy and take both companies to task for different reasons when it comes to their comics and films.

However not all of the major complaints have been as valid and they definitely illustrate a double standard at play when it comes to Superman specifically.

1) This Superman Destroyed An American City!

Clark isn’t guilty of destroying much of Metropolis. He is guilty of stopping Zod’s forces from destroying the entire planet.

What’s interesting is that these criticisms weren’t made against Dr. Bruce Banner when he “kind of broke Harlem”, New York, or that unidentified African city in Age of Ultron.

2) This Superman Was Reckless!

Inexperienced, no question. But also heroic. With no formal training and little knowledge of his powers and origins, Clark was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice if necessary to protect Earth while being targeted by the U.S. government and Zod alike.

Just as an inexperienced Steve Rogers was heroic when he threw himself on the grenade to protect everyone else in Captain America: The First Avenger.

What is reckless, however, is for a billionaire public figure to go on national television challenge a terrorist to a fight at his home and provide the address. Because that always ends well as Tony Stark learned in Iron Man 3.

And speaking of Stark, trying to trigger Banner to transform into the Hulk on a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and endangering countless lives is also reckless; a point Rogers made to Stark in Marvel’s The Avengers.

3) They Made This Superman A Murderer!

Superman has red on his ledger.

Regarding Zod’s death, what else was Clark supposed to do? Clark had him in a full nelson while pleading for Zod to stop the bloodshed. All the while, Zod was still trying to use his heat vision to murder innocent people while vowing to make it his mission to destroy Clark and his adopted planet.

Zod had already been imprisoned to be rehabilitated. That didn’t take. Even as Clark begged him to stop, Zod vowed he would keep coming and keep plotting to destroy the Earth.

Additionally, Superman has killed previously in the comics and films. It’s very rare and only as an absolute last resort when every other possible option has been exhausted as was the case in Man of Steel. Murder is usually premeditated and avoidable. Zod’s death is an textbook example of a famous quote from the original X-Man, Brother Malcolm.

“I don’t call it violence when it’s self-defense. I call it intelligence.”

The Last Son of Krypton is by no means the only one with red on his ledger.

Now many of the same critics have attacked Man of Steel for being too dark and this Superman crosses the line. That’s the problem with supermen and messiahs. The world expects them to be all things to all people and when they’re not, they get crucified.

We got the do-gooder in Superman Returns and the masses complained endlessly.

Man of Steel and BvS addresses this. So to the general public who wanted “an edgier and cooler” Superman film, you got it. Don’t blame Hollywood. This one is on you.

Even Superman isn’t above critique. In fact constructive feedback and deep examinations of the characters, the stories, and its reflection on our society should be encouraged. Constructive critiques keep us honest and makes us better.

To be clear, this isn’t a Marvel vs. DC argument. I enjoy films from both companies. If you do also, great. If you don’t, such is your right. To each their own.

However a little more consistency in critiques and a lot less double standards would be swell, stupendous, even, super!

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2 comments on “Seeing Double (Standards)”

You and I are more than agreed on this. You wins all Teh internetz, right now!

1. In fact, I’ve seen plenty of criticism before about Marvel’s lack of WoC, the constant deaths of various PoC, the Hulk smashing various “brown cities/locations, (including endangering the lives of those brown skinned people in India, where Banner was just hiding out), it’s general lack of women (at least in the movies.) Netflix is at least trying, but still no WoC, yet.

2. I’m getting tired of people harping on about characters they know so little about from the comics. Yes! Superman has killed before. You can’t just watch a couple of old movies, and TV shows and then dictate how a character is supposed to be in the next movie. Do some research first. All the information in the world at people’s fingertips and yet they are too lazy to Google things.

3. My biggest criticism of BvS was that it stars Ben Affleck, whom I actually overly can’t stand, (as Im still smartin’ from Daredevil. I may never forgive him for that movie.😜) I got no problem with BvS being Grimdark. I had the impression that DC would ve been just as criticized for making it lighter, because people would’ve said they were rippin’ off The MCU.

4. And lastly, I go to see maybe one to three superhero movies a year. I don’t go see EVERY SINGLE ONE of them. A steady diet of these movies, and not going to see anything else, is bound to make one dissatisfied with the whole genre. Even I get tired of watching only one type of movie.

I was scouring the internet to find at least one other person who could see the double standard in the whole Marvel vs DC conversation. And I was so pleased to find your post.

The biggest issue I noticed was the double standard regarding killing enemies. Batman in BvS was constantly called out for killing too much, in the process of bringing down the bad guys. But I was just watching a newly released clip from Captain America:Civil War which shows Cap taking out some bad guys in a pretty brutal way. You can see the clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVHa8PUYyJY

Cap throws his shield with such force across that distance, that it’s almost comical the fact that it seems to merely bounce off the soldier and ricochet back to Cap. This is a pure Vibranium shield thrown by a man with superhuman strength across a considerable distance; that thing should have sliced that dude in half! Sure, nobody wants to see that happening in a bright colorful Marvel movie, so of course it seems to just knock the bad guy to the ground, but if you’re telling me that that guy didn’t get his ribs shattered and his vital organs punctured, then you’ve got to be kidding me…. Cap then proceeds to kick another bad guy across the air into the side of a building; that guy definitely shattered his spine, so if he isn’t dead then at the very least he’s crippled for life…

Seems to me like everyone just has a problem with killing with guns. As long as people are being pummeled to death, then no problemo… *sigh*